The Budget Deal: An Hour By Hour Recap

It was a long evening for lawmakers (and those who watch them) but it ended on a positive note. Here's how things went down:

11:15 p.m. ET - Reid read a joint statement on the Senate floor and thanked Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for their work during the process. The Senate then unanimously passed the short term resolution.

11:05 p.m. ET: President Obama addressed the press, stating that he was "pleased to announce the Federal government will be open for business tomorrow." He added that, "both sides have had to make tough decisions" and went on to thank both Boehner and Reid for their leadership and dedication.

10:54 p.m. ET: House Speaker Boehner addressed the press in a terse statement, confirming that a deal had been reached. President Obama to speak in the next ten minutes.

10:36 p.m. ET: CNN reporting that a deal is in place and that "handshakes have occurred." Stop gap measure would keep the government open through Thursday. Broader agreement would go through end of fiscal year.

10:27 p.m. ET: Various sources reporting that the basic framework for a deal have been formulated. According to National Journal "the outline of the deal is as follows: up to $39 billion in cuts from the 2010 budget, $514 billion in spending for the defense budget covering the remainder of this fiscal year, a GOP agreement to abandon controversial policy riders dealing with Planned Parenthood and the EPA, and an agreement to pass a 'bridge' continuing resolution late Friday night to keep the government operating while the deal is written in bill form."

9:07 p.m. ET: CNN reporting that the "House GOP will hold a 9:45 p.m. ET meeting on Capitol Hill" and that "Reid is now expected to speak on the Senate floor at 10:30 p.m."

8:46 p.m. ET: CNN reports that "GOP leaders sent an email to all House Republicans Friday that said, 'We would like to clear up some confusion and relay that there has not yet been a deal reached. The negotiations are ongoing.'"

8:07 p.m. ET: Politico is reporting that White House and Congressional negotiators have reached agreement on the controversial policy riders but still have not made a deal on the final budget numbers. CNN reports that this includes the abortion rider issue. However, CNN also mentions that Democratic sources said that "the rider issues are not resolved." Apparently Republican leadership is suggesting that things are "essentially resolved" with regard to the riders while Democrats disagree.

From the Politico piece:

The breakthrough came late Friday evening but there are still hurdles regarding the size of spending cuts, and it’s unclear whether the latest round of negotiating will be enough to avert a government shutdown at midnight. The sources did not provide POLITICO with any other details about exactly what the breakthrough is on the policy riders, the most controversial of which involves defunding Planned Parenthood.

Everyone has someone on their holiday shopping list who’s impossible to buy for. For the second year in a row, we asked Atlantic readers to describe their someone, and brainstormed a few perfect gift ideas for them.